


Say Something

by Kimiko93



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Awkward breakfasts and hangovers, Cass and Grog stole my heart, Discussions of Death that are probably more light-hearted than is entirely appropriate, Emotional Constipation, Established Relationship between Vax and Keyleth in the background, F/M, In-character and in-story shipping, Like, Lots and lots of talking actually, Lots of alcohol, POV Alternating, Rating might change depending on how far I'm willing to take this, Shipping, at least eventually, blatantly so, relationship discussion, spoilers for episode 69
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-22 05:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8275157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimiko93/pseuds/Kimiko93
Summary: Spoilers up to episode 69 in text, 70 in spirit. "It feels really third grade in here."“For fuck’s sake…” Vax muttered and half-dragged, half-carried his sister with him. “Have you tried talking to him yet?”“Oh, sure!” She retorted, making a grand, sweeping gesture with her free arm and most of her body, forcing him to tighten his grip on her. “Why hello Percival, so glad you’re alive again, and by the way, I… I…” She apparently couldn’t bring herself to say it. Vax sighed deeply. “You did it before, and I’m sure you can do it again and be a bit more eloquent about it.” In which Vex is stubborn, Percy is emotionally constipated, Vax is a thoroughly annoyed but effective matchmaker, Scanlan and Keyleth find their true calling, Pike is somewhat glad her service to Sarenrae tends to keep her away from this train wreck, and Grog is both happy and confused that he suddenly has more drinking buddies than he used to.  A drama in 5 acts.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Let's all just pretend the plot didn't pick up right after Percy's resurrection and the party stays at Whitestone for a few more days, just long enough to, you know, sort through their personal business.

“Vex, what are you doing.”

His sister was sitting in the dining hall of Castle Whitestone, an only half-empty tankard in her hand she seemed more interested in staring at than actually emptying.

“I’m celebrating,” she answered, not even turning towards him. Her voice was a little slurred, accounting for half of whatever vile concoction she’d been drinking, but she’s not as drunk as the people you met at 3 AM in a tavern usually were.

“No, they were celebrating,” Vax said, pointing at Grog’s hulking form passed out on the floor and snoring across from her, with Scanlan, equally passed out, using him as a pillow to avoid any of the puddles of various liquids surrounding them. “ _You_ are moping.”

“No, I’m not,” she argued weakly, but put up no resistance when he pried her from her tankard and onto her feet. Vex leaned on him quite a bit as he did so, but whether that was because she was drunk or just in dire need of some comfort was hard to tell. “I’m happy! And so relieved! And…”

A tremor went through her body, causing Vax to quickly point her head away from him and towards one of the puddles on the ground.

“I’m not going to throw up!” She protested. “Or I wasn’t, but keep making me look at that and I just might after all.”

“Sorry,” Vax grumbled, pulling his sister closer again. “So what’s this about?” She gave him the most accusing look a drunk person could be capable of, and he rolled his eyes and started moving them towards the living quarters. “Fine. What did he do?”

“Nothing!” Vex burst out into either hysteric laughter or hysteric sobbing; it was hard to tell the difference in her current state. “He did nothing, he remembers nothing, but… But all that doesn’t matter, right? I mean, he’s alive, so I should be happy with that…”

“For fuck’s sake…” Vax muttered and half-dragged, half-carried his sister with him. “Have you tried talking to him yet?”

“Oh, sure!” She retorted, making a grand, sweeping gesture with her free arm and most of her body, forcing him to tighten his grip on her. “Why hello Percival, so glad you’re alive again, and by the way, I… I…” She apparently couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Vax sighed deeply.

“You did it before, and I’m sure you can do it again and be a bit more eloquent about it.” The words almost physically hurt him. “And if he still says or does nothing after, you come straight to me.”

“Oh, yeah?” She asked, and started giggling. “And what are you gonna do about it?”

“Whatever he deserves,” Vax assured her. Vex considered this for a while.

“Nah, don’t bother,” she then said graciously. “Y’know… I probably didn’t even mean what I said. Just wanted to get him back to life again. Laid it on a little thick. Yeah, yeah that’s it. Could you spread the word about that?”

“That’s not how resurrection rituals work,” he reminded her exasperatedly, balancing his sister on one arm while opening the door to her bedroom with the other.

“I knooow!” She drawled. “And he knows, too. And he hasn’t even asked about it!”

“He’s been alive for a grand total of two days,” Vax reminded her while dragging her over to the bed. “Give him time. Or, you know, go to him first.”

“This sucks,” Vex declared as he tucked her into bed. “You run around with people for a year or two, die once or twice, and now you’re all emotionally attached. This sucks!”

“It doesn’t have to,” Vax assured her softly and stepped away. “Give it time. And drink some water.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning was a strong and needed reminder to Vex why she usually did not get drunk just because of a guy.

Sure, there hadn’t been many guys to get drunk over in her past, which had largely consisted of brief encounters with charming scoundrels who happened to be around wherever she and her brother had ended up, and she didn’t even remember half of their names, but still.

Not only did she feel like shit from getting shitfaced, no, she also felt utterly pathetic and ashamed. Vax and her had dragged each other home after a lot of drunken escapades before, and while incoherent rambling had usually been par for the course, it had never quite been, well, _that_.

Vax hadn’t even come to her to talk about Keyleth. Voluntarily, at least. Not that she would have wanted to actually hear about it, but still. And yet here she was…

Ugh. No use in moping about it, she decided. She had to get this settled one way or another, and there was no time like the present, was there? Vex swung her legs out of the bed with the gusto of the panicked. The world didn’t quite follow at first, and then all at once, and she found herself lying flat on her face, deeply inhaling the smell of the cold stone floor and the dust of the carpet at the same time for maximum misery.

Alright then. Starting the day off with some dignity.

 

When she reached the dining hall, all of Vox Machina was assembled there, except for Percy. He had taken to sleeping in since his resurrection; sleeping into the morning, taking a long afternoon nap, and being the first to bed in the evenings. Perfect.

Vex walked to their table as steady-footed as she could, the world was still a bit shaky around her,  and sat down across from Vax while avoiding his gaze. Someone pushed a plate full of bread, bacon, and chicken towards her; breakfast just didn’t feel complete to any of them without chicken anymore. It smelled just delicious enough that the thought of eating didn’t make her want to vomit.

“Good morning, Vex!” Keyleth said, too loud for Vex’s sensitive ears, and way too cheerfully for the rest of her body to handle. “You… Don’t seem to be feeling well. Not that Grog or Scanlan are feeling too well, mind you, but you look especially hung over. Which isn’t to say that you don’t look beautiful as always, but, you know…”

“Long night,” Vex cut her off and took a bite off a chicken leg. Not greasy enough to make her want to throw up, just enough to get her started on processing food again.

“I could give you something for the hangover,” Pike, who had stuck around for a bit to keep a close eye on Percy’s recovery, suggested.

“No, thank you, I’ll be fine,” Vex declined and sighed, as someone whom she now correctly identified as her brother shoved a glass of water over to her. She took a deep breath. “So, uh, guys… I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Alright,” Pike said when Vex didn’t look up from her plate to see the rest of the group nod. “What is it?”

“Would you all be so kind and sort of… Not mention anything about, ah… My part in the resurrection ritual?” Trying to get this all out in one breath was not a good idea. Gasping for air afterwards made her more aware of the food smells, causing her stomach to feel just a bit queasy.

A long silence passed. When she looked up after a few moments, she could see everyone but Grog exchanging worried glances with each other and having silent conversations.

“Well, none of us were exactly going to shout it from the rooftops,” Scanlan then started. “But uh, it’s not like this was much of a secret, is it?”

“What?” Snapping her head around to him sharply made the dizziness return. And also caused the headache she was missing to finally come knocking. Literally, from the way it felt. Scanlan shrugged innocently and reclined in his seat.

“I’m just saying.” He looked at the others for help. “The thing with the tree? ‘My heart is someone else’s’? Between that and the darlings and the titles and the kisses, it’s not that hard to figure out, you know?”

With a groan, she lowered her head again in a resolve to stare at her breakfast instead of everyone’s concerned faces.

“I was very surprised!” Grog offered, but she got the sneaking suspicion he was just saying that to cheer her up.

“We won’t mention anything if you don’t want us to,” Pike assured her. “Right?”

Assenting noises indicated that everyone else agreed with that. Vex couldn’t tell for sure, she was busy nibbling at a chicken leg just so she wouldn’t have to look at people.

“Can we mention that you were involved at all, though?” Keyleth asked. “I mean, not that it’s that hard to guess, given the nature of these things, which means that Percy probably at least has a suspicion, or do you just want him thrown off entirely for some reason? I mean, I’m pretty sure he’d figure it out eventually…”

From the periphery of her vision, Vex could just about see Vax’s hand scooting over to squeeze one of Keyleth’s hands to stop her.

“Shh,” he made. “Sore spot.”

Vex just grumbled into her breakfast and tried to eat some of the bacon. Bad, bad idea. The queasiness in her stomach only got worse.

“So, we’re not talking to Percy about his goodbye letter or about Vex’s feelings,” Scanlan summarized for the table, sounding like he was having way too much fun with this. “Everyone got that? Grog?”

“Don’t talk to Percy,” Grog shortened the new party policy. “Should be easy, I only understand half of what he says anyway.”

“No, you can talk to Percy!” Pike said urgently. “Just… Not about these things.”

“Considering the contents of the letter we’re not talking about and never read, I think we should all talk to Percy a lot more ,” Keyleth said solemnly.

“Then I suggest we do that instead of talking _about_ him,” Vax  scoffed, effectively killing the conversation entirely.

Vex didn’t terribly mind the silence. Gave her more presence of mind to try and force down the eggs and chicken. To hell with bacon.

The struggle continued for a while, until the door to the breakfast room was opened behind her.

“Good morning.”

If it hadn’t made her head hurt even more, Vex would have been amused by the fact that the quiet and almost unassuming voice of Percy made the entire table jump, and not just her. As it was, she flinched, and her head didn’t like it, so she just about managed to contain her delight.

“Good morning, Percy!” Keyleth greeted him, her voice that half-octave higher it got when she was nervous. “We… We weren’t expecting you!”

“Yes, I have been… Sleeping a lot lately.” He made his way over to the table and sat down right between Pike and Vex. Oh, great. She’d assumed nausea and the funny tingling feeling she got in her stomach when Percy was around were two entirely different sensations, but nope. Right now, they were actually one and the same.

“That’s okay!” Pike was quick to assure Percy. “Being revived takes a toll on you, we understand that.”

“Some better than others,” Scanlan unhelpfully added.

 _Find piece of food on plate and stare at it. Ignore everyone else staring. Ignore leg brushing against Percy’s. Ignore whatever is going on with stomach. Focus on leg of chicken_. Somehow, this mantra didn’t make Vex feel better one bit.

“Yes, well.” Percy shifted awkwardly next to her, causing their legs to brush together even more, and cleared his throat. “I still feel awfully ungrateful. You guys go through all that trouble to revive me, and here I am, sleeping all day, instead of spending time with you.”

“Eh, that’s alright,” Grog assured him. “You were in your workshop all the time before. Not much different now.”

“Grog is right,” Keyleth agreed, her voice back to normal, which was to say full of concern. “Take all the time you need to rest. And don’t feel obligated to spend more time with us, either. We brought you back because we love you just the way you are.” She reached over the table and squeezed Percy’s arm.

Vex could practically feel everyone staring at her uncomfortably at Keyleth’s choice of words. Her stomach did not like that. Great.

“Thank you,” Percy said, and Vex just barely saw him squeeze Keyleth’s hand back. His voice had that rough quality to it that it always got when he was touched or deeply troubled. She usually kinda liked it when he talked like that, but it just made what little breakfast she’d had make more eager to leave her the way it came in.

“Nevertheless,” Percy continued, “death does give you a rather unique view on things. There is so much left for me to do, and I am eternally grateful for the lengths you went to to bring me back. The least I can do for you in return is make myself more available in the future.”

If stares could physically burn you, Vex was sure she would have caught on fire then and there. Her poor stomach had finally taken all it could handle, and she dashed out of the room before she could even definitively say whether or not that had been Percy’s hand squeezing her knee at those words or whether she was just imagining things.

She found a fancy vase on the corridor and threw up what little she had been able to eat during breakfast into it. And some dinner as well, while she was at it.  

 

* * *

 

It had been amusingly obvious that everyone had _just_ been talking about him when he entered the breakfast room. And Percy wasn’t even offended – far from it, in fact. I was keenly aware of the fact that his recent demise and resurrection would have given everyone plenty to talk about, and the long periods he’d spent asleep since even more so.

He’d had a bit of a history with troubled sleep, after all.

Nevertheless, there was something… Odd about the atmosphere at the breakfast table. A weird kind of awkward tension he couldn’t explain, especially since it had been in the room since before he’d entered. That his words wouldn’t go over particularly comfortably with anyone had been clear to him from the get-to.

Still, Vex’ahlia hadn’t appeared to be too well from the minute he stepped into the room, which was a shame really,  because… Well. Because. Percy still hadn’t quite expected her to bolt after his little declaration.

“…Was it something I said?” He asked, trying to keep his tone light to alleviate the mood a bit, which had turned particularly tense during her exit.

Somehow, that only made it worse. Everyone just got tenser.

“Oh, the jokes I could make, if only…” Scanlan sighed deeply.

“She just had too much to drink last night,” Vax said, and somehow made it sound like a threat. The fact that he glared at everyone at the table while saying it greatly improved the effect.

“That’s not something you of all people should make jokes about,” Keyleth chastised Scanlan while Vax got up and followed his sister out of the room, glaring at everyone again for some reason.

“No, that’s not what the jokes would be about at all,” Scanlan assured her, tone getting slyer. “You run out of breakfast and be sick some time, and you’ll find out.”

“Only if you want to face Vax’s wrath,” Percy snorted. “Which, trust me, is not advisable.”

“Ah, well, I’m not worried,” Scanlan said lightly. “I’m pretty sure you’re still his primary target, now more than ever.”

Keyleth and Pike visibly winced.

“Scanlan!” Keyleth chided him again.

“Be nice!” Pike added. Scanlan reclined in his seat and shrugged.

“I am being nice!” He defended himself. “My heart of hearts just couldn’t take it to see this drag out for another few months. _Again_.”

“I’m sorry,” Percy interrupted their bickering, not quite certain he understood what they were really talking about. “I’m afraid I’m a bit locked out of the loop here?”

That silenced the others again immediately. Well, except for Grog, who, judging by the amount of bones and other remains on his plate, had chosen to tear into his third whole chicken instead of participating in the conversation.

“Weellll,” Scanlan drawled. “Let’s just say that dear Vex might be a bit… Touchy regarding her, ah, contribution to your resurrection.”

Oh no. Oh _shit_ . He’d already been to blame for Vax entering into a questionable deal with a not exactly pleasant deity, he couldn’t possibly stomach Vex’ahlia doing the same because of, and, more importantly, _for_ him, of all people. But if so, then… Would Scanlan really treat this as lightly as he did?

“She, ah… She didn’t enter into some kind of contract with a deity to bring me back, did she?” Percy asked carefully. “This isn’t another Raven Queen situation?” How would he ever make that up to… Either of the twins, really.

This was also possibly the first situation in recorded history in which the mention of quasi-demonic possession actually lightened the mood.

“Not that we know of,” Pike said carefully after exchanging a glance with Keyleth.

“Good,” Percy said, releasing a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. “For a minute there, I thought…” He shook his head. A glance around the table showed him that everyone was still looking at him both uncomfortably and expectantly at the same time. “Then why would this be a touchy subject for her?” Or Vax, for that matter, who had very pointedly included Percy in his glares. Unless…

“Uhm…” Keyleth looked around frantically at Pike, who seemed just as clueless as she did. Scanlan shrugged again and motioned sealing his lips shut.

“Oh, come one,” he scoffed. He was quite fed up with their odd behavior. “What is it with you today?” He looked around exasperatedly, but no one seemed ready to give him an answer. “What? Did she pull a Scanlan on me and confess her undying love, or something?”

Even while he said this sentence, which had again been intended as a joke, pieces were coming together in his mind and he felt very light-headed for a moment. Then he had a brief flash of that damned tree and Vex’ahlia’s declaration that her heart was someone else’s already… And then he dismissed it all immediately. No, no.

He had previously entertained such thoughts, of course, but it never quite added up. Vex was flirtatious and affectionate, and they were relatively close, but she also wasn’t the type for grand romantic gestures or declarations, and first and foremost, a woman of action who wouldn’t carry this around with her for… Well. A while, apparently, if at all.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of Pike choking on her drink next to him and patted her on the back until she could breathe again.

“Heh, good one,” Grog said from across the table, mouth full of chicken.

“Why, would you like her to?” Keyleth said very suddenly after a long pause, leaning forwards toward him and resting her chin on intertwined fingers while looking at him intently.

“Excellent question!” Scanlan mimicked Keyleth’s gesture and also looked directly at him now.

“That’s not what I said,” Percy said quickly and cleared his throat.

“Maybe not, but you were awfully quick to think of it, weren’t you?” Scanlan pried deeper, Keyleth nodding along enthusiastically.

“I was making a joke,” Percy defended himself, attempting to give his voice an exasperated kind of grativas. “Attempting to lighten the mood, since you’re all so weird today.”

“Well, it was in poor taste – “ Keyleth started, not budging from her position.

“ – though I can absolutely take it –,” Scanlan interjected, still mirroring her body language.

“ – which makes me wonder; what made you come up with this so quickly?” Keyleth got to conclude her sentence. “Wishful thinking?”

“You seem strangely invested in this,” Percy tried to deflect again.

“And you, my friend, seem strangely evasive,” Scanlan gave him no quarter.

“Yes, truly, I am the evasive one at this table.” He snorted. “But I can take a hint. Consider the subject dropped.”

“And here it was just getting interesting,” Scanlan sighed, and he and Keyleth turned their attention back to their breakfast.

So. That had been... Interesting. Truth be told, Percy had been meaning to inquire about his resurrection further, once he'd regained the energy to stay awake for more than an hour or two at a time. So far, all he'd had were suspicions on how it went down, based on earlier experiences with the ritual. And while he had, well, maybe hoped that Vex'ahlia had been involved, knowing about it for sure made him feel... Strangely happy. And horribly guilty, of course. He didn't exactly regret being alive again, despite having been more than prepared for his death, but he did feel sorry about the toll it had taken on his companions to get him there. And if his resurrection was now also the cause for their group to be more awkward than usual, to the point where having an actual conversation seemed impossible, that didn't exactly make him feel any better. Also, from what he'd gathered, this awkwardness was directly related to Vex'ahlia and her part in this, so...

Well. He had been meaning to clear the air between them for a while now. Make sure he wasn't putting too much importance on minor things, or overthinking and overestimating her actual level of affection him. She was rather flirtatious, after all, and he not used to being close to people in any way, and as such, was prone to misunderstandings. Better to get things sorted out immediately. And honestly, the Vex'ahlia he knew absolutely wasn't the type for dramatic declarations - playful flirting and endearments didn't quite allow for this kind of thing, right? Then again, she had been quite serious when confronting Saundor, and truth be told, their conversations also had been a bit more... Well... Involved ever since he gave her that title, but still...

It couldn't be, could it? This was just him overthinking things and overstepping boundaries. One day, they'd all laugh about it, surely.

Yet for now, the seeds were planted in his head, and he couldn't quite shake off the light-headedness it came with. An odd feeling that didn't make thinking about this any easier. The best thing to do would be to just talk to her about it as soon as she felt better, yes? Or was it maybe not right to ask her about something she allegedly didn't want to talk about? She had, by all means, already done more than enough for him, was it right to ask for even more?

He flagged down a servant to finally be brought some breakfast, and pointedly ignored the way his companions kept glancing at him uncomfortably.

Maybe straight-out asking about these things wasn't the best way to approach it. Surely it would be better to test the waters a bit more - he hadn't been quite sure where he and Vex'ahlia stood in regards to each other for some time now, anyway. And this odd behavior from everyone about it was definitely not helping. So it would automatically fall to him to sort this out.

If only he could decide on how to do that...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning's events leave Vex with a new resolve, and a plan. Unfortunately, as is always the way for them anyway, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I wanted this to be a short three-shot. Well, no, the .doc title is "an ill-advised Critical Role OS," so that was already an amendment. And then suddenly I couldn't make people stop talking and also Cassandra de Rolo stole my heart. She needs more love, guys. 
> 
> Also, quick trigger warning: Whorephobic language used as in canon, and not really in a demeaning manner, when talking about sex workers briefly.

Fresh air did wonders to settle an upset stomach. Even if it was fresh air from the castle grounds of Whitestone. Spending time with Trinket also did wonders to settle just about anything. And so, Vex had settled something with herself.

She was going to get it all over with. Today. Or as soon as possible, really. Now she’d dragged not only her brother into her personal troubles (which was such a no-go just thinking about it could make her feel sick again), no, she’d also dragged the rest of Vox Machina in along with him.

She also didn’t trust a single one of them, except Vax, to keep their mouths shut about this for too long. Better just get it over with already.

She wasn’t even sure what she was afraid of, really. Well. Okay. Rejection. Not something she’d been afraid of before. Also, Percy and her kind of had a thing going on before the whole feelings shit became part of it. A fun thing that had meant a lot to her. A fun thing she might forever ruin going forward with this. Dammit.

Emotional investment sucked so hard. Brief encounters on the road you’d never have to see again were just _so_ much easier.

This just sucked.

And the more she thought about it, the more it occurred to her she might have maneuvered herself into a corner. Vax had been right, she’d told Percy she loved him, well, quite a lot of times actually. And he’d even responded in kind. But that had never been serious!

…Had it?!

Well. Maybe it had been serious a little bit and some of the time. Her own feelings hadn’t quite made themselves known to her until that shithead Saundor, truth be told. That had sort of been when it had sunken in just how much Percy and what he’d done for her actually meant to her. Only to hammer the point home with the entire dying thing.

So anyway, even if she managed to get the words out to him again, that wouldn’t mean shit if she couldn’t get across that she was serious this time. Which would retroactively make all their previous interactions weird.  Damn it all.

“Be glad you don’t have problems like this,” she told her bear, who nuzzled her sympathetically. At least that’s how she chose to interpret it. Pity might have played into it, too.

But the thing was, now she’d just feel a bit… Disingenuous during every interaction with Percy. Once she could interact with him without throwing up again, of course.

She looked back at the castle. Ugh. Yeah. She’d have to deal with this sooner or later.

 

On her way back to her room, she heard agitated voices carry through the hallway.

“I don’t believe this!”

“Cass, please keep your voice down…”

Oh, great. With her luck, she ran straight into Percy arguing with his sister, because why wouldn’t she? Hm. At least that meant he was distracted…

“You can’t just keep me out of your life like this! You _died_ and no one even thought to inform me of it!”

Oh, shit. Cassandra did have a point there, they kind of had skipped telling her as long as there was still a chance to resurrect him. Probably not the most sensitive thing, but absolutely what Percy would have wanted, they’d been sure.

“You would have been informed eventually had I remained dead.” Percy’s voice sounded forcefully controlled, and also like he was just walking to where Vex had frozen in place to listen in. “I made arrangements.”

“Arrangements you might want to tell me about, don’t you think so?”

Huh. What had happened to ‘Cassandra will know what to do’? Had that just been a reference to traditional family burials, or something?

“You would have been notified had I actually stayed dead,” Percy said. “Which I didn’t, so there was no need for you to worry about it.”

“Still would have been nice to be informed at once!” Cass was having none of it, it seemed. “You are the only family I have left, remember?”

Percy’s audible wince was more or less echoed by Vex’s less audible one, and she made a spontaneous decision. It really wasn’t fair to let him take the heat for decisions he had literally had no part in, considering he was dead at the time. Thus, she cleaned her throat and walked towards him.

“I am so sorry to eavesdrop,” she started, and both de Rolos jumped at her sudden approach.

“Vex’ahlia!” Percy greeted her, for some reason suddenly pale and breathless. Cassandra suddenly looked very interested.

“Lady Vex’ahlia, right?” She asked, looking back and forth between her brother and Vex and then making a slight curtesy into her direction. Years of being around nobility and of lower rank kicked in and made Vex fall into a courtesy as well. She could hear Percy groan in the background as he ruffled his hair uncomfortably.

“Cassandra, listen,” Vex then continued and ignored the sudden awkwardness. “Percy had nothing to do with you not being notified immediately, that is all on us, and I’m sorry about it.”

“But why?” The girl asked, and Vex was suddenly stricken by just how young she was. Percy was already the youngest in their group, and Cassandra was five or six years younger than him. “You have a brother, don’t you? How would you feel if something like this was kept from you?”

“I understand that you’re upset,” Vex assured her, massaging a spot between her brows to keep the morning’s headache from making a comeback. “It’s just… You know, in these resurrection things, time is of the essence, and Percy had already been dead longer than any of us have been before, so we basically just rushed him here and got the ritual started as quickly as possible. We would have gotten around to informing you as soon as the situation was settled, please believe me.”

“So… You have, what, a routine for bringing people back to life?” She now looked at Percy uneasily. “And it’s not one I might have been able to help with in any way?”

“There was no time,” Vex repeated. “If there had been, we would have sent for you. And, yes, we do have a routine, as crazy as that sounds. I died myself some time ago, and, uh, Pike did, too, but that was very long ago… Oh, and we brought Grog back as well, I think.”

“And you’re all just… Fine?” Cassandra backed away half a step, looking back and forth between them again. “This has no… Side effects, or repercussions, or…”

“No, no, Cassandra, gods, no!” Percy now assured her. “I’m not undead or a vampire, and neither is Vex, or Pike, or Grog.”

“Sarenrae has nothing in common with whatever fucked up shit you saw the Briarwoods do around here,” Vex added. “Polar opposite, actually. We don’t really understand how it works, either, but you’re basically good as new afterwards, just a bit groggy for a time, but completely unchanged otherwise.”

“Alright.” Cassandra still looked uneasy. “Just… Please don’t try to keep me out of your life like this anymore.”

“I’ll try to be better to you,” Percy assured her, and then shot an uneasy glance at Vex, which made her pointedly avoid his gaze and shift her weight from one foot to the other. “Would you be so kind as to excuse us now, Cass?”

The girl’s uneasiness now gave way to a speculative glance again, as her eyebrows shot up and her eyes trailed from Percy to Vex and back again.

“Very well,” she then said coldly. “Lady Vex’ahlia.” And after another curtsey, she vanished around the corner Vex had come from.

An awkward pause ensued, during which Percy leant heavily against the wall and Vex watched Cassandra leave, just a tiny bit freaked out.

“Does she have to do that every time she sees me now?” She then asked, both because of genuine concern and to just break the silence.

“Technically only in polite society,” Percy answered. “But since all three of us are members of this city’s gentry now, I guess that counts. I trust you feel better?” He stood up straight again for the last sentence and looked at her nervously. The fuck did he have to be nervous about.

“Of course, darling.” The endearment had left her mouth before she could think about it. “Not the first time I had a bit too much to drink, after all. How are you?”

“No, I suppose it isn’t.” He chuckled to himself and shook his head a little. “I am fine, but in dire need of a nap right now. Thank you for interfering when you did.”

“For what it’s worth,” Vex started hesitantly, chewing her lip. “I think you should make an effort to spend more time with your sister. What Keyleth said this morning is true, you don’t have to feel compelled to be around us any more than you have been before, but I think you at the very least owe it to yourself to make the most of what family you have left.”

“I know, I know, and I’m trying,” Percy said, mimicking her gesture in warding off a headache. “But she’s just so… Difficult to be around, and it usually ends the same way as it just did.”

“You’re siblings,” Vex pointed out with a snort. “Irritating the shit out of each other is basically in the job description, and boy do you have to make up for lost time there.”

This was actually pretty nice, talking to Percy like nothing had ever happened. Nicer than worrying about rejection or being weird, in any case. Hell, who cared about stupid love confessions to bring him back from the dead, anyway? Things could just return to normal and nothing had to change necessarily, did it?

“I suppose.” Percy took what appeared to be a steeling breath before, for the first time, looking directly at her again. “It was awfully convenient of you to show up when you did, too. I have been meaning to talk to you.”

“…Oh, yeah?” And just like that, all her hopes flew out of one of the pretty windows of the hallway that had been fixed up very nicely considering the slaughter that had taken place there only a few months prior. They had very nice curtains, with almost no stains left!

“Yes, well…” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I had been meaning to ask about it anyway, but after you… Left during breakfast today, I managed to more or less pry out of the others that you played a significant part in my resurrection.”

“Really.” Vex was quite amazed she managed so much as to squeak out this single word, given how her entire chest suddenly seemed to contract and knock the air right out of her. Those bastards. She asked them for _one thing_ …

“First of all, I have to make sure…” His voice trailed off, then he just shook his head. “They all acted a bit reluctant to even tell me this much. So I have to know – you didn’t make any deals on my behalf, did you?”

That actually managed to catch her by surprise. Huh. Okay. So maybe her friends hadn’t quite failed her after all, if _this_ was Percy’s first thought on the matter. Okay. She could still do this.

“No, don’t worry,” she assured him. “I am not my brother.” Though that would have helped on occasions like this particular one, she had no doubt.

“Good,” he said gravely. “Because I am not worth it.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Vex said, somewhere between scared and exasperated, both because she had no patience for self-deprecation, but at the same time the contents of his goodbye letter were seared into her head. “You’re worth nothing more or less than anyone else in the group, and if that’s what it would have taken to get you back, I’m sure none of us would have hesitated.” Or at least, in that moment of despair, she definitely wouldn’t have. “Thankfully, that’s not what it took, so… Don’t worry about it. But stop saying shit like that, or even thinking it, okay? I told you before, and I’ll tell you as often as it takes until you get it into that thick head of yours; you are a better man than you think you are.”

“I… Appreciate then sentiment.” He cleared his throat again.

“It’s not just a sentiment,” she cut him off sharply. “No, really. I mean it. Don’t ever question that.”

“Alright.” He sounded strangely resigned while saying that, sighed, and adjusted his glasses. “In any case, I… I’m afraid I’ll never be able to fully articulate just how grateful I am. To you.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. Where exactly was he going with this?

“No one would tell me particulars, but you seem to have been instrumental in getting me back, and for whatever you did to do that, I will be forever in your debt.” He chuckled at that. “In addition to that time I got you killed.”

“That… That’s okay.” Now if he could only ask about the particulars of what she’d done… Or was this his way of letting her down gently? He was a smart guy, usually, and not someone not to go to the bottom of things before making speeches in hallways… God, he _was_ letting her down gently, wasn’t he? And he was doing it really, really badly.

All at once, her lungs released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Just that it suddenly felts like she was breathing fire instead of air, and like maybe some of the pretty curtains had fallen off and strangled her. So no air, and what air she got burned inside her lungs. She needed to get out of here.

“No, it isn’t, and it never will be,” Percy meanwhile went on without even looking at her. “But still, for what it’s worth, your efforts are… Greatly appreciated.”

“Sure,” she managed to gasp, in a voice that sounded very close to Keyleth on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Or maybe all voices started sounding like that on the verge of a nervous breakdown and she’d just heard it on Keyleth the most. She managed to force a fake smile that hurt like her face was splitting in half. “Any time,” she added, still in the same voice, and awkwardly patted Percy’s shoulder. “I… Need some fresh air.”

And with that she turned around and had to force herself not to run back outside.

 

* * *

 

Neither Percy nor Vex showed up for dinner that night.

As Scanlan made sure to point out to everyone, that was either a very good, or very bad sign. Vax wasn’t exactly sure which alternative he’d consider good and which one bad.

At the end of the day, he wanted his sister to be happy. And up to this point, their experiences with Percy had been a mixed bag in that regard. They seemed… Somewhat good around each other, when he wasn’t getting her killed at the time.

Vax was also keenly aware that his protectiveness in that regard was maybe a bit hypocritical, in more ways than one. And to be fair, even under normal circumstances, Percy was one of the… Less troubling people his sister had fancied. Past demonic possession and all. Also, his sister was her own person, and old enough to make her own choices… Even if there might be certain long-term consequences that he didn’t like one bit.

Those, of course, wouldn’t matter if the two idiots managed to fuck up the short-term stuff.

Keyleth and Scanlan were whispering to each other during dinner, about things Vax very, very intently tried to ignore, and other than that it was a rather quiet affair, up until they had a rather unexpected visitor.

“Lady Cassandra!” Scanlan was the first to greet her. “What a pleasure to see you here!”

“Hello.” The girl looked tense and somewhat troubled, though that was basically her default expression. She sat down right across from Vax and looked him straight in the eye. “Would you all be so kind as to clear something up for me?”

“Sure!” Keyleth assured her, then looked around their companions. “I mean… If we can?”

Cassandra acknowledged that with a curt nod, then looked straight at Vax again.

“Very well,” she said. “How exactly did your sister come upon her title?”

“What are you implying?” Vax asked, keeping his voice close to a low growl and staring right back at the girl, while around him, everyone sucked in a breath and Pike began choking on her drink, a predicament not quite helped by Grog enthusiastically trying to assist by hitting her on the back and knocking her head into the table.

“Oh, nothing, really.” Cass crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair, and never took her eyes off him. “I just came upon your sister and my brother being idiots while making googly eyes at each other today, not two weeks after receiving a missive that she, and only she, had been spontaneously awarded a barony in this very city. So you tell me what this implies, really.”

“It’s not what you think,” Scanlan assured her before Vax could think of a way to talk to her without yelling. “Trust me, if it were what you think, things would be sooo much easier around here.”

“Why don’t you, you know, ask either of them about it?” Keyleth hesitantly suggested, sounding not quite sure about what exactly was being implied. “I think Percy is the only one with a definitive answer to that question.”

“My brother has just locked himself into his workshop,” Cassandra informed him. “And when I briefly caught a glimpse of Lady Vex’ahlia, she seemed rather busy pelting trees with arrows, and I’d hate to get in the way of that. So I’m asking you.”

“And you said you heard them being idiots around each other?” Scanlan asked for clarification.

“And making googly eyes!” Keyleth added enthusiastically. “That’s… Good, right?”

“That depends,” Cassandra said pointedly. “What exactly happens during these resurrection rituals, and why do I get the feeling it’s not something you should be enthusiastically thankful about?”

Pike, Scanlan and Keyleth all winced in unison. Vax briefly buried his face in his hands.

“Wait, they had that conversation with you around?” Scanlan asked.

“I had a conversation with my brother, Lady Vex’ahlia got involved, and then I was sent away,” the girl summarized. “Now since I take a very high interest in the political landscape of this city, and my brother never talks to me about anything, I chose to linger around the corner and listen in. Judge me for that, if you will. I find myself quite justified.”

“No judgement here,” Scanlan assured her quickly. “It’s just that if you got the drop on Vex, well, either she must have been really out of it, or you’re really, really good.”

“How about both?” Cassandra suggested, a slight smile cracking her face. “I did manage to survive as a double agent for a while, remember?”

“Why, yes, of course,” Scanlan assured her. “But then you have to understand that we’ll need more specifics to figure what exactly we can fill you in on.”

“First of all,” Vax interjected before this could go any further. “Back off, she’s like fifteen.”

“Seventeen!” Cassandra corrected him, but he waved this off.

“A quarter of your age regardless,” he adjusted. “Remember what happened the last time you hit on a young girl.”

“To be fair, the odds of her being related to him are a lot lower,” Keyleth unhelpfully interjected.

“Second of all,” Vax continued, ignoring her input. “These are private matters between those two and we’d all do good to take a lot less interest in them.”

Keyleth next to him sighed, and he almost felt sorry. She had been pretty happy about the prospect of Vex and Percy possibly getting together, going on and on about how good they’d be for each other. Vax failed to see it, these two more seemed to goad each other on in their less wise endeavors, but he did like to see Kiki happy. And his sister. And Percy could use more happiness in his life, too, but he was only a distant third.

Scanlan just rolled his eyes. Vax had no idea what his stake in this was, but it got more and more probable he had money on it at this point. That, and he was just a little shit in general.

Pike seemed a bit relieved; she was supportive enough of these things, but also a bit awkward. Grog was only mildly interested in their unexpected dinner guest or conversation, and more interested in the pot roast they’d been served for dinner.

 Sometimes, Vax mused, they should all be more like Grog. Not very often. Very rarely, actually, but _sometimes_.

And then there was Percy’s sister. She just looked even grimmer, her lips tightening and putting extra emphasize on the faint lines a seventeen year old was absolutely not supposed to have on her face. She folded her hands together and leaned forwards. And then she got that look on her face, the same one Percy did when he was about to do what Vex referred to as “lawyering”.

“Yes, I'm sure you are a man who values his privacy very, very much,” she said, in a voice that managed to sound both chilly and saccharine at the same time. “In fact, I seem to recall such a moment in which you were a particularly private person. Now, of course, my memory might be a bit fuzzy, seeing how I seem to recall having my throat slit just moments before, after specifically telling you, personally, not to come in, so I might have imagined that scene. After all, I believe you too have an appreciation for what blood loss can do to a person's head.”

It took him, and to be fair everyone else around the table who was listening, a while to comprehend what she was getting at. Then he groaned, remembering that this girl was both seventeen and Percy’s sister and the he really, really shouldn’t be considering using violence on her, while Scanlan broke out into laughter and Kiki into a nervous giggle.

 “What are you really trying to ask here?” Vax asked her grimly, hoping keeping his voice controlled but slightly threatening would maybe knock her down a peg.

“I’m not sure how much clearer I can make it.” Now she got a touch haughty, as well. “Your sister was awarded a title in this city that I am partially responsible for. No one here got any explanation for it. And it’s a title that doesn’t extend to you, does it? Technically, for your part in the rebellion, we could have awarded you lands and honors right then and there, all of you, individually or as a group. Singling just one of you out, though…” She sighed. “Just… Are they involved? Were they involved before he died, and now things are unclear? Or did he award her that title in an attempt to woo her? Wouldn’t be the first time in history, but I find the prospect of explaining to the people that my brother runs around and awards titles for personal reasons to his personal favorites… Unappealing. Might remind people of something.”

“Do you really believe your brother is that kind of person?” Keyleth asked, concern in her voice, as she leant forward over the table. Cassandra gave her a forced half-smile.

“How would I know?” She said, now with genuine sadness in her voice. “I knew him five years ago, when we were both far, far younger. And in the few months I’ve known him since, most of our conversation consisted of ‘Cass, please take care of these refugees,’ or ‘Cass, please get these resources for our allies,’ or ‘Sit around and wait while we send some specialists your way,’ and I am happy to do these things for you, but it doesn’t leave much room to actually talk to him. If I had any idea of who my brother really is as a person, or any hopes of having an actual conversation with him about any of this, do you think I’d have approached you at all?”

“Oh, Cassandra…” Pike next to her sighed, echoed by Keyleth. Even Scanlan stopped smirking for a moment.

“And then this shit is the first thing you ask about?” Grog unexpectedly participated in their conversation, mouth full of roast. “You people have weird priorities.”

“This shit was the first personal moment I have seen my brother have that didn’t involve killing people,” Cassandra replied, attempting to sound sharp, but now the sadness was evident to all of them. “It’s also somewhat relevant to the political landscape of this city, and seeing him squirm was entertaining, as an added bonus. So? What’s going on?”

“I think you might know more than we do at this point,” Pike carefully started answering, and Vax just silently resigned himself to both having this conversation, and also to kick Percy’s ass so he’d talk to Cassandra more when the opportunity presented itself. “We just… Have a bit more context?”

“He didn’t give her that title so he could fuck her without slumming it, right?” Cassandra asked quickly.

“Uhm…” Keyleth made and leaned back from the table, clearly uncomfortable.

“Well, to be fair –,” Scanlan started.

“No,” Vax stopped him before they could even get into this. “That’s not it.”

“You know that for sure?” Scanlan asked.

“Yes.” This was not the conversation Vax had resigned himself to having. “We had a talk.”

“That’s good,” Cassandra said. “Didn’t take him for the type anyway. Alright. But you can’t tell me there isn’t something going on between these two.”

“Far be it from us to even try at this point,” Scanlan snorted. “Though you seem to have the most up to date information right now, we haven’t seen either of them since breakfast.”

“Well, what little I witnessed wasn’t exactly conclusive,” Cassandra mused. “She just interfered while I was confronting him about the being dead thing. Thank you, all of you, by the way, for bringing him back. And also not for telling me anything about it until after the fact, I greatly appreciate being left in the dark in regards to my family.”

“We are so, so sorry about that,” Pike assured the girl. “But see, at that point, Percy had already been dead a lot longer than usual, and time was really of the essence, since his soul was being devoured at the time and already farther away than any I have brought back before…”

“Yes, that’s basically what Lady Vex’ahlia told me, as well,” Cassandra interrupted her. “The fact still stands. And what is it that goes on during these rituals, anyway?”

“This one was… Special,” Pike answered again. “I mean, they differ given the deity you appeal to to bring the departed back, but for this we first had to free Percy’s soul, and then offer… Something to him and Sarenrae that would tie his soul back into his body and into this world, essentially.”

“Something as in an object?” Cassandra wanted specified. “Because that is seriously not what the conversation sounded like.”

“It’s a bit unclear,” Keyleth said, eyes darting back and forth between Pike and Vax for some reason. “Especially since the objects we did use weren’t actually taken by anything, and… Uh…”  

“Well, the largest contribution to actually bringing him back was Vex’s offering, which was… Almost entirely verbal,” Pike summed up.

“Can you really quantify it like that?” Scanlan asked. Pike nodded gravely.

“And while we’re at it, can you say whether what was said brought him back, or whether it was his reactions to the words?” Keyleth wanted to know.

“That, I can’t,” Pike said solemnly. “Not just because I think we’re all being a little insensitive prying into their personal affairs like that, but also because I just don’t know.”

“So, Cassandra,” Scanlan picked the conversation back up again after a well-earned awkward pause. “Did it sound like Percy knew what Vex had said or done?”

“He said he didn’t know the particulars,” Cassandra answered. “And he didn’t let her get a word in about those particular before going on and on and on about just how thankful he is. Then she stormed off and he locked himself in.” Everyone around them winced again, which Cassandra watched carefully. “Well, I guess at this point I have a better idea of what Lady Vex’ahlia might have said than he does. Then again, I did spend a lot of time perusing my mother’s collection of romance novels…”

“This… isn’t good, is it?” Keyleth asked, looking at Scanlan for some reason.

“Depends entirely on how she takes it,” Scanlan answered. Which wasn’t exactly wrong, but Vax still was a bit suspicious as to what they were talking about. “Given that Lady Cassandra here mentioned she’s now out shooting at trees… Yeah, not good seems to be it.”

“Just as well, I’d say,” Cassandra scoffed. “I’m already a bit uncomfortable with the amount of undead in this city’s gentry rapidly approaching the levels it had before the rebellion; having it be ruled by an undead couple, again, is not going to be easy to explain to the people…”

“I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself there,” Scanlan pointed out. “We have a few more dragons to kill before Percy can come back here to rule, be it alone or with anyone else. And things kind of tend to get worse for us after we get done with the first thing, so…”

“And they’re not undead, are they?” Keyleth corrected her. “Well, I mean, they are in the sense that they were both dead and now are not, but they're not like, undead-undead. Not in the unholy abomination kind of sense, more a very holy absolutely not abomination kind of alive again instead of undead... I can see why the differentiation would be difficult."

“I’d also just not mention that they both, or anyone here, died,” Vax suggested. “It is a realities of our lives, but not easy to grasp for most people.”

“Fair enough,” Cassandra assented. “So. If it wasn’t to woo her, and not because they are already involved, why exactly did your sister gain a title, and no one else here did?”

“Personal reasons,” Vax answered flatly. “Nothing amoral, but something very personal my sister chose to share with Percy and no one else. I can assure you she is perfectly worthy of her title, however.”

“Man, isn’t it handy that you get to have all these revealing conversations with Percy?” Scanlan asked, sounding a bit indignant. “We’ve been wondering about this for ages, well, or at least when we weren’t busy with crazy shit, and here you are with all the answers!”

“Percy has a hard time saying no to me,” Vax reminded him. “Ever since he got Vex killed, at least.”

“How romantic,” Cassandra deadpanned. “And that didn’t lead to dramatic declarations?”

“Not of this kind,” Scanlan answered quickly before opening the door to a whole different kind of uncomfortable conversation.

“And how did my brother even die to begin with?” Cassandra changed the topic almost entirely.

“Dr. Ripley killed him,” Keyleth answered, biting her lip. “We... Kind of tore her asunder afterwards.”

“I see…” The girl seemed lost in thought for a while after this, before regaining her usual rigidity. “Very well then.” She got up and nodded at all of them curtly. “Thank you for indulging me as much as you have. Good night.” With that, she turned around and walked out the dining hall.

“Interesting girl,” Scanlan commented after the door had closed behind her. “And no, I don’t mean it that way, no need to throw daggers at me.”

“She’s very lonely, isn’t she?” Keyleth asked solemnly. “I feel really sorry for her. Even if she’s… A lot to handle. And really not very nice.”

“It’s not like niceness would have gotten her anywhere in her life,” Vax pointed out grimly, then got up. “I have something to take care of.”

 

* * *

 

“Y’know?” She peered across the table to where Grog was busy draining his… Third? Probably third tankard since she had joined him. “I reeeeaaaally envy you sometimes.”

“’course you do!” Grog responded, toasting her. “Nice of you to say so, though.”

“Life’s gotta be sooo much easier,” Vex muttered into her own tankard. “You never bother with this emotional bullshit!”

“Eh, well,” he shrugged sheepishly. “I get that sometimes. Then I just go to a whorehouse and it goes away.”

“Really?!” This was definitely news to her. “You get it often?”

“Nah.” Grog made a dismissive noise. “Just sometimes.”

“Well...” She took another gulp. She wasn’t even done with her first tankard yet and could already feel it. Then again, she had skipped most of all meals today. “If I tried that, they’d just ask me to work there. And believe me, I have tried.”

“Well, you are very pretty,” Grog assured her earnestly, albeit also drunkenly. Actually, that probably made it more earnest.

“That is so sweet of you!” Vex cooed in response. “And… So much like you to think that was a compliment.”

“It wasn’t?” He blinked in confusion.

“’You look like a whore’ is not usually meant as a positive thing, no,” Vex explained and laughed.

“So whorehouses have men, too?” Grog asked, sounding genuinely confused. She laughed again.

“Only really special ones,” she answered. “Really, really special ones. And they’re still usually for men, and I still get asked the same question.”

“Well, that was more than I ever needed to hear about what you do in your free time.” Her brother’s sardonic voice made her jump in her seat.

“Please.” She waved at him dismissively. “I haven’t tried that in years. And I know juuust as much about your exploits. Who caught you that time when you left Keyleth’s room, huh? Huuuh?”

“That wasn’t even the first time,” Vax quietly informed her while sitting down next to her.

“Ew!” She shoved him away playfully. “Ew, ew. TMI, brother. TMI.”

“And what would you call the reason we’re all sitting here?” Vax asked, put one elbow on the table and propped his head up on his hand.

“Fucking stupid,” Grog contributed and underlined it with a burp.

“Not arguing with that,” Vex said and raised her tankard in his direction again.

“Then why are you doing this again?” Vax asked. Because of course he did.

“You know, I was trying to do something else!” She started justifying herself. “Like, shoot arrows. And then I ran out of arrows. Except of those that explode, and for some reason, those didn’t make me feel better.” She took a gulp from her tankard. “Besides, I got a plan now. If he shows up at breakfast tomorrow, I can throw up _on_ him, and then we’re even and we can all pretend this shit never happened.”

“And that’s going to beat actually telling him what he thanked you for like an asshole?” Vax asked. Wait a minute.

“How do you know about that already?” She asked, seriously offended. “I was getting ready to drunkenly complain to you about it, this is not fair! Who will I vent to?”

“You already vented to me,” Grog reminded her, but she waved him off.

“Yes, but your face doesn’t do funny convulsions like you’re about to run off and punch someone when I do it,” she explained her dismissal.

“Also, Grog already knew as well,” Vax claimed.

“You did?!” Vex was starting to feel just a little betrayed here.

“Eh, not really,” Grog said. “Like, I heard maybe the gist of it, but wasn’t really paying attention. That girl freaks me out.”

“That girl?” Vex asked, and then put the pieces together. “Oh, that bitch! And here I was looking out for her and telling Percy to spend more time with her and everything!”

“Oh, he should definitely do that,” Vax said darkly. “They have so much in common. Talking people into oblivion, for instance. Also, that girl wields guilt better than Grog wields his war hammer, and that’s saying something.”

“Oh, come on now,” Grog protested. “She’s good, but she’s not that good.”

“He was sort of saying something nice, too!” Vex pointed out to Grog. “Much nicer than ‘you’re pretty enough to be a whore,’ actually.”

“That’s what you think, maybe.” Grog got up to get a refill for his ale. The Whitestone homebrew stuff had nothing on his very own casket, but did well enough for the time. Vex found herself growing strangely fond of it.

“In any case.” Vax put his hand on the one of hers which was holding her tankard. “Do you really think this issue is going to resolve itself by throwing up on him?”

“I can hope,” she weakly claimed. “And why are you so invested in this, anyway? Shouldn’t you be glad I’m not jumping between the sheets with Percy any time soon? Where are your big brother killer instincts all of a sudden?”

“Somewhere at the bottom of this tankard,” Vax said dryly. “I’m not thrilled about that aspect, but you’re a grown fucking woman, so it’s not like I can tell you what to do anyway. And I hate seeing you like this.”

“Hmpfh.” She pushed the tankard away so he could stop guilt-tripping her. “That’s rich coming from someone whose girlfriend is the queen of day drinking.”

“She hasn’t done that in ages, and never to drown her sorrows,” her brother argued.

“Gods, you didn’t even flinch when I called her your girlfriend,” Vex pointed out and poked him in the chest. “This is now officially too sappy for my liking.”

“Well, we can stop having these conversations as soon as you get your shit together,” he said.

“I already told you, I have a plan now!” She repeated herself. Wasn’t he listening?

“A plan that resolves nothing and that you will feel bad about five minutes after,” he argued.

“I thought it sounded pretty good,” Grog threw in, surprising them both by even still listening.

“I don’t understand your problem,” Vax then said, squeezing her hand. “You said it before. You saw him die before he could hear it. Why is this so hard for you now?”

“It’s unnecessary!” Vex drawled out and withdrew her hand. “He knows. Or at least assumes. And this whole thanking me like an asshole bit was him letting me down gently. So to spell it out and make it explicit is just going to make things worse at this point.”

“You’re sure he knows?” Vax asked skeptically.

“His fucking sister knows from listening to that one conversation, doesn’t she?” Vex pointed out. “He can’t possibly be dense enough to miss it.”

Vax shrugged.

“In my experience, everyone is pretty dense about these things once they are concerned themselves,” he said. “You being the prime example right now. Right after him, of course. Though I still don’t think Percy even has a clue what this was about.”

“Why are you so intent of making me humiliate myself?” She asked as a last resort to make him stop talking. “Don’t you have a bunch of childhood stories to blackmail me with already?”

“That’s not what this is about,” Vax said, looking a bit uncomfortable now. “And come on, there’s no way you can beat me in that regard.”

“And don’t do shit in front of Percy’s sister,” Grog helpfully added. “She’s mean.”

“Well, you did get her throat slit,” Vex pointed out to Vax. “So she kinda has the right to be mean to you. And you did fuck up there, so bad, and in more ways than one.”

“Not arguing that,” Vax sighed and now attempted to drag her up again, like the night before. She let him.

“I just… Don’t want things to change for no reason,” she muttered into his shoulder. She didn’t actually need the propping up from him, but it felt nice, so she kept playing along. “You know, when we talked today? I mean, besides the fact that we talked about death and resurrection and undead, it just was… Kinda nice to talk to him, you know? Like nothing happened?”

“But things happened,” Vax said softly. “And things will continue to happen. We could all die when the next fucking dragon shows up here, and remember how that felt.”

“That is such a mean argument,” she protested. “Oh, bye Grog. I guess.” Vex waved at Grog as Vax led her out the room. Grog toasted her and went back to drinking.

“Yes, it’s mean, but it’s also true,” Vax admitted, dragging her along. “Remember Tiberius? That could be all of us in any moment.”

“Not as well as you do,” she snorted and poked him in the side again. “And now I instantly feel horrible. I’m drunk, don’t judge me. Also, really? He’s the example? When we’re all in this shit just because of that time we all built a pillow fort around Percy’s cold, dead body?”

“Is that when you realized you are in love with him?” Vax asked in disbelief.

“I told the fucking tree like a week before that, remember?” She now punched him in the side now. “Keep up, man.”

“I don’t have any money on this, so I don’t have to,” Vax kindly informed her. “I can’t say the same about others in the party, though. I’ve suspected Keyleth getting involved for some time, and I think Cassandra now might be in on it, too. But they all know better than to do it in front of me.”

“You’re kidding, right?” That information was almost enough to sober her up entirely. “They’re betting on this now? Seriously?”

“I don’t have solid proof, but it’d be amazed if they weren’t at this point,” Vax elaborated. “And don’t act so scandalized, I know you’ve done it, too.”

“Yes, but that was just good business sense,” Vex defended herself. “That still ended up costing me money, thank you very much.”

“I’m don’t even want to ask, but what cost you money was probably more due to Kiki’s actions than mine,” Vax said, but winced why he did so.

“I mean, I guess she’s technically to blame for me losing out on the Gilmore pot, but I’d still rather put that on you because blaming her would be gross,” Vex corrected him.

“In any case.” Vax had now dragged her all the way back to her room. “My point is that, if no other reason should convince you, if this carries on for much longer, your own personal business ceases to be your own or personal, and becomes more of a group affair.” He looked at her intently. “Do you _really_ trust _anyone_ to keep this a secret for too long?”

“Uhm…” She thought long and hard about this while leaning against her doorframe. “Well, you… And Pike…” She winced. “And I’m afraid that’s it, but I’m ready to be positively surprised by everyone.” Vax raised his eyebrows at her in mockery. She rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine, I see that I’ll get around to telling him, but for now I reserve the right to be pissed and also pessimistic, okay?”

“Fair enough,” Vax admitted and nodded to her. “Good night, Vex.” And he walked off.

“Night!” She called after him. “Also, I think your room is the other way.”

“I know.”

She made a gagging noise just for the hell of it.


End file.
